Strangulated man's body found near Shopian

A 28-year-old resident of Zainapora village, 15 km from Shopian town, was found murdered, here on Tuesday morning. The victim Bilal Ahmad Bhat's body was found in an orchard some meters away from his home.

A 28-year-old resident of Zainapora village, 15 km from Shopian town, was found murdered, here on Tuesday morning.

The victim Bilal Ahmad Bhat's body was found in an orchard some meters away from his home.

The preliminary investigations suggest that he was strangulated.

"Bilal had gone missing after late night prayers on Monday and in the morning his dead body was found with injuries," said Shopian station house officer Irshad Ahmad adding that we are yet to ascertain the motive behind the killing.

After police recovered the body, a mob comprising many locals of the village stormed into the house of Bilal's neighbour and torched the building.

A Panchayat Ghar adjacent to the building was also partially destroyed.

The villagers suspect neighbour's hand in the murder.

Before Bilal went missing, his neighbour had called him for some work. There is a suspicion that he was murdered over money issues," said a local on the condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the family of the deceased did not blame anyone.

"I don't know what would have happened but seems he was strangulated," Bhat's cousin, Altaf Ahmad said refusing to reveal anything further.